In early Chinese thought, heaven was considered "round" and earth "square." Westerners from St. Anselm to Kant taught that round and square are opposites. I will explore the connections between east and west (round and square) in a blog that takes seriously the little details of our lives. Round and square; east and west—never the twain shall meet (it has been said). Except when they do, and that is the whole point of this blog.

From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again). *Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

A specter is haunting Beloit College—the specter of
missed classes, half-empty classrooms, and disjointed learning. I have tolerated these patterns of vacuity in
the past, but it has reached a point in which missed classes affect both the
students who are absent and more punctual class members (who have to hear
explanations for material and key points more than once). It also detracts from the pedagogical goals
of not only our little course of study, but of liberal education in general.

I will expect regular attendance and participation in
class, and anything short of that will result in significant penalties. I will take attendance during every class
session, and students will be expected to be on time and respectful of the
length of breaks. While this may seem
draconian, it is simply meant as a way to create a positive learning
environment.

Class AttendanceYou are expected to attend every class session during the
term. Period. This is not a policy that “allows” one or two
(or three) “misses.” Short of
significant illness, or a major—catastrophic—event, you must be in class.

Class will begin promptly at the top of the hour, and
there will be a quiz at that time.
All quizzes will be collected no later than twenty minutes after the hour. Be in class on time and use your twenty
minutes for the quiz. Blank quizzes will be picked up at five minutes after the scheduled beginning of class. If
you are later than that, you will receive the minimum score (70),
although you are still encouraged to fill it out for your general
academic benefit.

Please note (the following information is new):Class attendance and participation is expected. More than four hours of missed classes will result in the loss of a letter grade for the course. Ten or more hours of missed class will result in an F grade for the course.

*** ***

Class
time will cover significant issues that go beyond
the foundation of materials you have been assigned. In other words, you
are supposed to prepare with the readings and then take the quizzes in
order to think in new ways about that material. In the class that
follows, we will take all of that preparation in new directions (that is
the purpose of class, after all). Much of what we do in class will
figure prominently on future quizzes
and exams.

Occasionally, it will happen that you are not able to be
in class, no matter what. These
occasions should be rare, occurring for most students once or twice every third
semester, and only a handful of times during an entire college education (I am
not kidding).

When absences do happen, send me an e-mail message letting me
know. Please note the wording. Do not ask me for “permission.” Do not
plead for “leniency.” I prefer to deal with these matters the way
members of any civil society would—with a sense of decorum and mutual
respect. That is ultimately how I will
evaluate your attendance. It is really
quite simple to tell the difference between not being able to pry
oneself away
from Madden NFL 25® and experiencing an illness or loss. Don’t be too “personal”
in your e-mail messages. I don’t want to
pry, and I don’t need explanations (or, worse yet, excuses). Just let me know the situation.

Class ParticipationBy
“participation,” I mean being fully engaged in the
lecture or discussion. This may or may not
include active voicing of opinions or interpretations. In short, I do
not belong to the school of
thought that equates “talking” with participation and “silence” with
lack of
engagement. It is easy enough, after a quarter century of teaching, to
see the exceptions. What I seek is solid preparation, engagement
with the subject under discussion, and (eventually) evidence in your
writing
that these things have come together.

I expect you to listen to my (and your peers’) comments,
and to add your interpretations whenever you feel compelled to do so. The best advice is for each student to push
her or his “comfort zone” a little. If
you are inclined to speak often, pull back (a little) and listen. If you rarely speak, push yourself to do so.

You need to have the required books with you for class
discussion. In cases for which reserve
materials have been necessary, you need at least a series of notes to which you
can refer during our discussions. Reading books on reserve (or leaving it to the last minute) is never a
valid reason for being unprepared.

After an initial “getting acquainted” process, I will
start calling on people. This will never
be punitive, and will only occasionally create (unwittingly) the kind of
“I-don’t-know/deer-in-the-headlights” terror that makes everyone
uncomfortable…for about ten seconds. I
plan to get people talking about the materials with a minimum of fuss and
worry—and will explain the process once the course gets underway.

The most important part of the “participation” expectation
is note taking. I want you to explore
various note-taking skills as part of your expanding liberal arts
education. You will more than
occasionally hear me say “write that down.” That is for emphasis. I expect
all students to develop note-taking strategies so that they have useful
materials for further analysis when writing papers or studying for exams.

Because
I take the note-taking process so seriously, I am requiring that you
keep a notebook that will be turned in as part of your class work.
Notebooks will be due several times during the semester and at the end
of the term. Do not "just listen." I don't deny the value of listening,
but I feel that note-taking is becoming a dying art in our society, and I am requiring that you actively take notes about the course's subject matter, both in and outside of class.

Laptops and Classroom ComputersThere will be no use of laptop or classroom computers
during class time without approval. I realize that taking
notes on computers can be a useful practice, but I would like to emphasize a
number of other note-taking strategies in our class (see above). Part of a liberal
education lies in pushing one’s boundaries. Experiment with various note-taking
strategies. The only possible exception to this policy will be for clearly
stated (mostly medical) needs. See me if you need approval.

You may do a quick check of e-mail and social media during break if you
wish, but you must complete your work before class resumes (with time to
spare). Then put away your device.

Occasionally during class something will come up that
might benefit from a quick on-line search. In those cases (these seem to occur a handful of times during the term),
I may give permission for people to do a quick in-class check. Such times are the exception, not the
rule. For the most part, we will be
engaged in a distant intellectual world of books and paper. It will be a healthy contrast to our
“connected” worlds beyond the classroom.

Just to reiterate (and I shouldn’t even have to say it), turn off your
phones…and everything else, too.

I fully realize that this is a great deal of legalistic
material to handle at once. A single,
sensible thread runs through all of it, though—a learning community that is
engaged in examining old questions and pondering the new. Or, as Confucius was said to have said: